The River, 1937
“This is a story of a river, a record of the Mississippi: Where it comes from, where it goes; what it has meant to us–and what it has cost us.” Prologue of the film The River.
The River, released in 1937 by the Farm Security Administration/Resettlement Administration, was written and directed by acclaimed and innovative documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz. It is one of several films that Lorentz created for the federal government during the 1930s and 1940s.
The film explores the impact of the Mississippi River and portrays the need and hopeful promise of “New Deal” civil works and other projects designed to help alleviate environmental and other social problems. According to a biography of Lorentz at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, “Lorentz premiered the film in New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi, and then traveled from river city to river city along the Mississippi and its tributaries to promote it.”
View and download The River in the National Archives Catalog. This film is part of Record Group 96, Records of the Farmers Home Administration, Series: Motion Picture Films. You can explore more audiovisual holdings held by the Moving Image and Sound Branch through the National Archives Catalog, through the Special Media Records Division blog, The Unwritten Record, on History Hub, or in person at our research room in College Park, MD.